


tying a wildcat down

by reafterthought



Category: Obernewtyn Chronicles - Isobelle Carmody
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - no magic/powers, Gen, drabblechap, ffn challenge: diversity writing challenge, ffn challenge: drabblechap competition, word count: 3001-5000 words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-02-14 17:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 4,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13012746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reafterthought/pseuds/reafterthought
Summary: Elspeth Gordie is an odd girl. And Maruman is an odd cat. Jes figures he must be odd too, to have dragged the pair of them along with him when he could have had a decent life instead.





	1. Elspeth Gordie

**Author's Note:**

> Written for
> 
> The Drabblechap Competition  
> Diversity Writing Challenge, g1 - a drabble novel

Elspeth Gordie is an odd girl. She prefers mucking out the stalls than doing her studies, and always manages to make a poor impression on the families that come to visit. It disgruntles the matron, because she's well on her way to becoming one of those orphans that stick around till they're too old and then dying on the streets soon after, but it frustrates Jes Gordie even more because he can't accept a new home that doesn't have his little sister in it.

Even if said little sister would much rather the company of animals than other human beings. And other humans feel the same way. Families say she's a bad child, able to always say the one thing that'll turn them away. Children say she's like a doll – but, behind the Gordie children's backs, they whisper that those eyes are more like a mirror than glass, peering into their desperate little souls.

Elspeth doesn't mind them at all. She tends to the horses in the barn and the squirrels that sometimes sneak in and the grumpy cat that'll hiss at anyone but her and tries not to be too hurt that her big brother dreams of another life than her.


	2. What to Look for in a Family

Another family comes and goes, taking other children with them. Jes can’t easily brush the irritation but Elspeth seems content. ‘You won’t like them,’ she says, even though he doesn’t ask. ‘They look sweet, but they’re bitter inside.’

She’s right; he won’t like people like that, but she sounds so sure they are like that and he hadn’t seen any inclination at all. She’s always saying things like that, justifying her reasons. It’s as if no-one pleasant ever comes to Kinraide Orphan Home… and maybe they don’t. With the sort of misfit children who’ve collected here, it’s not so far a stretch to think that there are very few altruistic people in the world.

After all, their parents were burned to death with their house because of a petty plot for revenge. And he hears the stories. Even if the intentions seem innocent, often they’re just to fill the empty holes in a family. Sometimes it’s to replace dead children, and he shudders at the very thought.

Elspeth doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with it, but it’s one of the reasons she’s chase potential families away. Or maybe she doesn’t want a replacement for their parents and he’s simply overthinking her motives. She’s young, after all. Young and tiny and incapable of emoting properly.

The matron always says that, once a good family adopts them, he should consider getting her into a psychologist… but really, that becomes less and less likely.

‘What’ll make you happy,’ he snaps, sometimes.

‘Nobody,’ Elspeth replies, her wide dark eyes finding his. ‘But you want something, don’t you?’

And that’s their dichotomy.


	3. The Hissy Cat

Jes can’t find Elspeth, again. Often, he considers just leaving her and talking to the families on his own. Maybe that way he can convince one of them. But he knows Elspeth will never be happy with a family she can’t accept, so he goes to find her.

She’s scratching a black cat behind its ears. It hisses. She just laughs. And she’s got no scratches, when that cat’s infamous for scratching anyone who tries to touch him.

Jes has never been scratched by him either, but that’s just because he’s never tried. Elspeth offers him this time. He shakes his head. ‘There’s a family looking for a couple of kids. You know it’s hard enough finding ones that won’t split us up.’

Elspeth shrugs. Of course, he knows she’s uninterested in being adopted. ‘Maybe Maruman has a litter somewhere,’ she muses.

He stares at her. ‘What does that have to do with anything?’

                ‘Then he’ll be a father, won’t he?’

He snorts when it finally clicks. ‘You want the cat to adopt you?’ It’s more the other way around, he would think.

                ‘Wouldn’t that be nice?’ she asks, tilting her head so her long hair tumbles into reach of the newly-dubbed Maruman’s claws. ‘Me, you, Maruman… and Gahltha too.’ They’re in Gahltha’s stall now, though Gahltha’s not there.

                ‘But Gahltha belongs to Madam Vega.’ The idea is ridiculous anyway: two children, a hissy cat and a horse that doesn’t let anyone ride it.

Then again, Madam Vega has talked about getting Gahltha put down, so she might not mind the mare being stolen.

…is he actually considering this?

But Elspeth’s eyes are sparkling at the idea.

He sighs. ‘It’s not as simple as that, you know.’


	4. Men of the Household

A long time ago, Jes made a promise to his parents to never leave Elspeth behind. Elspeth, as far as he knows, has made no such promise, but she honours it all the same. When she sneaks away some nights, she lets him know beforehand… And then he pretends he knows nothing when Madam Vega yells.

It's not that hard to run away from Kinraide. It's just… where will they go? No-one will take two orphans off the street and, somehow, he's sure Maruman at least will tag along. Sometimes though, it sounds appealing. No chores except what they need themselves. No listening to adults who don't have their best interests at heart. No being bound by anything else, except each other –

And, really, they'll always be bound to each other.

Still, options will be limited without a family, even if it's not ideal. There aren't that many jobs. Essentially hard labour for him, prostitution for her. He needs to protect her from that as well, but Elspeth is a free spirit. She's always been. She won't be the petite little lady-like figure families come looking for.

There are stories of children living with beasts, in wildlands. He can imagine her as one of those: the jungle boy, the girl of the forests.

It's Elspeth's fault, for raising the idea of running away with Maruman and Gahltha.

But when she turns twelve and Madam Vega starts talking about brothels, Jes wonders why he can't entertain her flighty idea as well.


	5. Escape Plans

Elspeth is, thankfully, disgusted at the idea of selling her body for her livelihood. That, at least, she has no trouble emoting. ‘You’ve kind of led up to it,’ Jes scolds.

‘Maruman doesn’t need to,’ Elspeth replies.

‘That’s because you feed him your scraps.’ Jes rolls his eyes. The idea appeals, certainly, but humans simply aren’t adorable house pets – or not-so-adorable, in the case of Maruman.

But he’s a good cat, as far as Elspeth is concerned. He keeps her company. He hisses at anyone who gets close, except him.

He especially hisses at Ariel, and that is one boy Jes is more than happy to keep far away from his little sister. He’s heard what happened to Sadie, and Elspeth may not be oblivious to sex but she’s certainly a stranger to seduction.

Jes offers a hand, wondering if Maruman will hiss at him. He doesn’t; only rubs his head against Jes’ calloused palm.

Jes can’t help but grin.

And maybe that goes straight to his brain, because he says: ‘How about it, then? You, me and Maruman. And Gahltha, if you think he’ll carry us.’

                ‘If I ask nicely.’ And Elspeth’s green eyes sparkle with mirth.

They haven’t done that since their parents burned.


	6. The Map They Draw

Madam Vega will flay them with her crop if she catches onto the idea. But she probably won’t until they’re gone. Elspeth’s always kept to herself, and Rosamunde's nice enough to snatch a couple of extra sets of clothes.

Jes is pretty sure she’ll complain to Madam Vega when she discovers them gone, but she’ll keep quiet until then. It’s manipulative, sure, but they can’t head out with only the clothes on their back and no way to earn or make more, and it’s safer than trying to steal them himself. Rosamunde's sweet and not a troublemaker like the Gordie siblings, so Rosamunde is far more likely to be overlooked.

Clothes is, really, the least of their preparation problems. There’s how to get food, and shelter, and where they’ll even go without being forced out. They need somewhere where fruits, at least, grow. Berrioc is nearby, but a city isn’t going to cater to the needs of two children who can’t pay.

If not Berridoc, then the forested region to the north. There are orchards there. Some are still run by people. The ones further north, too far away from Sutrium and its means of purifying the soil, are abandoned.

It might choke them to death on its poison, or it might be the home they can build for themselves. But they’ll need enough food and supplies to, at the very least, get them there and even if Gahthla can carry them, where will they acquire those supplies from? Their portions are too meagre to save very much and it’s far easier getting caught stealing food than stealing clothes.

If they’re going to steal food, they’ll have to do it from town and then bolt on Gahthla’s back – and make a spectacle of themselves. Unless Maruman is clever enough to steal enough while the three of them lie low.

To Berridoc for supplies then, and then further to the abandoned orchards.


	7. Waking Up to Empty Beds

They sneak out under cover of night… Or Jes does. Nobody thinks it odd anymore to find Elspeth sleeping in Gahthla’s stall instead.

Except they won’t find her sleeping in Gahthla’s stall tomorrow. They won’t find her, or Gahthla, or her brother Jes. They won’t find Maruman the cat either, but he’s a stray and barely of consequence to them. Ariel in particular is glad he’s gone.

He is, however, furious about Elspeth and the fury catches. Rosamunde bursts into tears when she finally understands why Jes had made his odd request, and she confesses and falls out of favour. And Ariel, always currying favour, is quick to capitalise on it all.

Madam Vega might not have been playing on keeping Gahthla much longer, but she’d still planned to make a profit off his death and she’s not happy two of her orphans have snatched it from under her nose.

And there’s only so many places in the north they could have gone.


	8. A Pitstop in Berridoc

They hide carefully in Berridoc. Jes bleaches both their hair till it’s near blond instead of jet black. Their skin is pale enough to carry it. Elspeth’s distinctive green eyes though are unchangeable. He gently combs her bangs in front to hide the most of it, and strangers will hopefully think them a duller hazel, like hers. Two unassuming children hiding in the crowd of Berridoc, or so they seem.

But they are vigilant. Jes is on the watch for Madam Vega or any of the officials. Elspeth has caught a glimpse of Ariel and is spooked.

At least Ariel is useful somewhere, Jes thinks, because caution is what is going to get them through their time in Berridoc. They may be passed over at first glance, but Madam Vega is shrewd, and Ariel is even shrewder.

And he’s proven right about Maruman as well. The hissy cat is quite adept at stealing scraps or running interference and they slowly build their store their food.

Madam Vega and the others breeze through Berridoc, confident the two wayward orphans and the stolen horse aren’t there.

Truthfully, only Gahthla is not there. They’ve hidden him elsewhere and they hope no-one happens upon him.

Still, once the adults are a day clear of Berridoc, the Gordie children flee back to Gahthla with their meagre store of food and Maruman.


	9. Sneaking Through the Wild

They breathe once they’re free from the town. Still, they can’t blend into the crowds anymore and their blond hair won’t keep them safe from first glances anymore: not with Gahthla and Maruman with them.

And Gahthla won’t be easy to hide, either, if they’re keeping him and their meagre wares close. It’ll be a long road to the uninhabited orchards, and longer still before they’ve got some sort of defence to keep unwanted visitors out.

Jes is sure Gahthla and Maruman will kick and scratch, but they won’t last against the bows of the Herder Faction. Their only hope is stealth.

They’re all quiet as they sneak through the countryside: Jes who understands the danger, Elspeth and Maruman who are always slipping away in the darkness and even anxious Gahthla. But there are no riding crops or vicious riders or loud noises to frighten Gahthla here. Maybe that’s why. Maybe that’s why they’re relaxed and calm even when they’re looking over their shoulder at every step.

They’re on the run but at least they’re not trapped anymore.

It’s a different sort of quiet to the orphanage they’d fled from.


	10. Whispers from the Trees

The trees seem to whisper.

They don’t, of course. It’s their newfound solitude playing tricks on him. But he knows what rustles are the wind – the trees talking freely to each other, Elspeth comments blandly, and Jes wished she would laugh in delight like before instead – and what are from them.

So when he hears a different sort of rustle, they climb. Maruman is quick, and Elspeth is quick to follow him. Gahthla, of course, can’t climb but hides in the thicket and it’s much easier to hide a singular horse in there than a horse, two humans and a cat.

It’s a bear, and he laughs afterwards. Maruman just hisses and Elspeth watches the bear disappear with her wide expressionless eyes.

Elspeth didn’t learn how to show her emotions living with those other children. Maybe she’d manage it when it’s only the Gordies again… or maybe she won’t.

Maybe Elspeth is broken forever. Or maybe she’s not broken.

Maybe Jes is broken too. And Gahthla. And Maruman.

What is broken, anyway? Beaten and carted off to the farm? He’d worked on those farms before, until his fingers were falling off and he was hacking up white and pink froth. Then it was bedrest for a bit while Elspeth tended to him, then right back to the farms when he was right.

Well, they’d find their own farm and this time he won’t have to work until he drops. Maybe Elspeth will help. Maybe she won’t. Women had a very different role in the orphanage but it would be only the two of them now. Elspeth would always stomp across the field with her little boots, following him and his father. She hated sewing, too. But she’d learnt, at the orphanage.

She’ll have to keep doing that, at least, because Jes doesn’t know how to sew.

The trees rustle again, loud and warning. Maruman and Elspeth are up the tree in a flash.

They’ve all quickly learnt. And when the passing Herder men poke at random thickets, they hold their breaths.

The trees hiss as the Herder men leave, though thank goodness they’ve passed Gahthla’s shelter by.

Jes shivers from his perch. _Thank you, trees._

Elspeth watches with her wide doe eyes.


	11. Forest's Edge

They’re coming to the end of the forested regions and it’s simultaneously a relief and a cause for concern. Will the orchard farmers report them to the Council? Or catch them in their yards (or worse, stealing the fruits of their labour) and flay them alive? Or chain them to posts like dogs, or saddle them and drive them in the fields like poor Gahthla had been?

‘The forest is nice,’ Elspeth comments, as Jes slows, ‘but it’s not for us.’

She’s right; it’s not. They can’t live within its trunks indefinitely, sheltered by its leaves and shrubs. They can’t eat bark and leaves like the wood animals, and there’s few other edible things. They can’t light fires to cook their meat, and they can’t eat raw meat. Jes catches them still, for Gahthla and Maruman, but he and Elspeth have had to make due with whatever nuts and fruits and edible-looking roots they can find.

At least all that farming has prepared him for this. And at least Elspeth isn’t fussy. Though they grew up in an orphanage. That’s taught them not to be fussy.

Still, Gahthla’s slimming down and Elspeth’s always been a waif and Jes hasn’t looked in a mirror but he’s probably being trimmed as well. He doesn’t notice it so much but it’s really obvious on the horse, and it’s only a matter of time before the rest of them follow if they don’t get more from the orchards they pass.

Little thieving orphans like the townspeople jeered, watching the orphanage from afar in their comfortable homes with families that were still alive. Lucky them – and the Gordies were those people too, until their home and parents burned and they were sent there. But now they know, and they’re turning lies into truth.

It can’t be helped. They can’t afford to buy anything with no money to their name. They can’t afford to show their faces with bloodhounds on their trail… and who knows how long it will take for Madam Vega and her entourage to give up on them and Gahthla. They can’t afford to stop: not while there are still people and inhabited lands.

They’ll keep going: past the forest’s edge and the orchard fields that lie beyond.


	12. On the Road

Maruman sleeps under the sun once they’re past the forest edge, and they’re forced to retreat back. It’d be foolish, after all, to travel when they know farmers are at work in the fields. They wait, instead, for cover of dusk and ride on Gahthla’s back.

Gahthla is carrying very little otherwise, now. Maruman still slumbers as they move, until he smells the fruits they’ve picked and peeled: then he gobbles his share down.

They don’t keep much spares. It’ll spoil quickly but there’s some for the next day they have to hide… and there’s a problem too, because where will they hide? There are small rivers that run between and amongst the orchard fields, and trees as far as they can see but it’s not a forest where no-one will walk between every pair of trees to pick fruits or trim stray branches and the bare ones offer no shelter at all.

They hide off the properties, instead. Just off the road, where they’re in plain sight if someone looks too close but most people won’t. They’ll be carts carrying produce off to Berridoc to sell, and empty carts dragged back by huffing forces.

And Maruman sleeps, and Gahthla sleeps too after carrying them all night, and Elspeth curls up against Gahthla and sleeps as well.

Jes thinks he should stay awake to watch, but he’s tired too.

He wakes to Maruman’s claws digging into his skin and his hissing. Elspeth is wide-eyed with sudden fright and for a moment he marvels at the sight – because emotion of any sort is rare, nowadays, on Elspeth’s voice.

Then he sees. There are horses on the road. And voices. ‘See, I told you they’d be around here.’

Ariel. And Madam Vega.

Maruman leaps off Jes’ lap to stare down the pair and it would be an amusing sight if poor Maruman wasn’t so powerless. Gahthla has shrunk in fear as well but he’s still in front of Elspeth. At least she isn’t exposed.

But that won’t help against Madam Vega. And as for Ariel… Well, they’d all heard the rumours about Selmar: about how he’d whispered honey things to her until she heard and saw and felt nothing else but him, and then cut her loose.

And then he set his sights of Elspeth and Jes is constantly relived at Maruman’s role as guard-cat for his sister.

But now, Maruman is the one who’s taken up arms, which means…

He picks Elspeth up and hoists her onto Gahthla’s back. ‘Go.’

The horse leaps off, protest dying on Elspeth’s lips.

Madam Vega gives chase on her own steed too, leaving Jes and Ariel.


	13. Jes and Ariel

Ariel frowns at Maruman. He also doesn’t get off his horse.

Maruman must have been something fierce to have kept him away from Elspeth all this while, Jes thinks, because he looks impressively puny now. Still, he does the job.

                ‘What do you want?’ he asks. ‘You’re the same as us: orphan, hoping for a better life.’

                ‘I am looking for something,’ says Ariel, wary of Maruman but amused at something else. ‘A better life is such a simple way of saying it, though.’

                ‘What then?’ he asks bitterly. ‘Love, or some façade of it?’

He laughs. ‘When our own Madam Vega sells her girls to the whore house? Rather, I’m glad the little Elf got away.’

Jes burns, at that. Only he is allowed to call Elspeth “Elf”. And Maruman and Gahthla, if they could talk.

                ‘It’s not Elspeth,’ Ariel explains. ‘It’s not this world, either. Don’t you think it should all burn?’

It doesn’t take very much to understand. ‘Isn’t there anything you love in this world?’

                ‘No,’ he says calmly, ‘and I thought if I could find someone to love me instead, that might change. But it didn’t. Not even when the cars ran her over, leaving her a crushed egg on the road.’

Jes is horrified at that. Horrified and frozen. He is only lucky Maruman is still in front of him, hissing away.

Poor Selmar.

And thank Maruman that Elspeth’s escaped that net.

                ‘I have Elspeth,’ he says, finally, as steadily as he can manage – which is not very steady at all. ‘And more than that. I have Maruman and Gahthla, now. And, soon, we’ll have a home.’

                ‘In this world?’ He throws his head back and laughs, and his horse backs away. ‘Then go ahead, if you think that scared horse can outrun Madam Vega’s finest. Disappear into the wilderness where your bodies will become food for the crop. Burn with the rest of this world when it goes.’

Jes wants to laugh as well, because that scrawny honey-covered kid Elspeth’s age destroy the world?

But Ariel admits to killing someone and they all saw the broken doll Selmar had become, so he knows he’ll try.

                ‘Stop chasing Elspeth,’ Jes says.

                ‘I don’t need her anymore.’ And, for a brief moment, Ariel seems disgusted. But then the expression melts away, and so does his horse, down the road.

Ariel, Jes thinks, doesn’t understand love. And, for a time, maybe Jes was like that as well and maybe that’s why he’d looked to Elspeth: Elspeth who was Jes’ only light.

But now they have Maruman and Garthla too.


	14. Their Family

Jes runs through the orchard. It’s still the middle of the day and it’ll be over if the orchard keeper catches him on foot, but Elspeth has Gahthla and Gahthla will canter like the wind to protect her and avoid Madam Vega.

But he’ll never catch up to them on foot. Not unless they come back and they can’t, because they risk running into Ariel. So Jes can only run and hope they stop somewhere safe and wait after Madam Vega is long gone, and hope the path Maruman is leading him along is safe with Elspeth and Gahthla at the end of the road.

It’s not, quite. Madam Vega’s horse races up to them in a frenzy and Jes catches the reins, seeing him – no, her – riderless. The journey speeds up after that, though they arc around a clearing that has the horse unsteady and Jes can guess what’s there.

It’s both a shock and a relief, but he doubts Elspeth and Gahthla had anything to do with Madam Vega’s demise, and he won’t stop. Either way, she can’t catch them now, and he’s faster with hooves underfoot instead of his own feet.

And then there’s a whine from his horse and an answering ninny from up ahead, and Elspeth and Gahthla emerge from the grove.

Jes nudges his new mare closer, and the siblings embrace. ‘You’re safe,’ Elspeth says, finally. ‘I was worried.’

                ‘About me?’ He laughs, but the truth is she had every cause to be worried. ‘Ariel’s obsessed with you, remember Elf?’

                ‘He’s not.’ She shakes her head. ‘I’m like Selmar: means to an end.’ She pauses as Jes processes that point. ‘And so are you.’

                ‘I suppose,’ Jes agrees, before shaking his head. ‘No, we were. Not anymore. We’re useless to them now and good riddance. And we’ll soon be out of their reach.’ Ariel isn’t their concern, so long as their paths cross again. They’ve left the orphanage behind, after all, and everything it entails. They go forward with only each other, to a home only they can build together.

 


	15. Unguiding Posts

The blooming orchards grow more sparse as they reach the so-called poisoned lands, but beyond that is a paradise only for them.

Still, they hesitate, because there’s a reason no-one crosses it.

Except Maruman and the horses move without direction from either of them.

Jes and Elspeth exchange a glance again, then Jes shrugs. The horses have led them well so far and they’ve already made this choice. And at least they’ll be able to stop looking over their shoulder at every turn. Only desperate people like them will try and cross.

They cross, Elspeth on Gahthla and Jes on the mare and Maruman in Elspeth’s lap because Elspeth is still his favourite. And Gahthla leads, along the plans where neither human can see any landmarks at all.

They ride all day, until Jes wonders how they haven’t collapsed in exhaustion already because Elspeth is already comfortably asleep and Jes is getting there. At least they have food and water, from the last orchard: where it didn’t matter so much if they were spotted because the orchard farmer wouldn’t force his mule onto these poisoned plains.

Unless they think it to be a myth. They’d know best, being so close but the house was so far away.

It didn’t matter. They were going farther still. So far that they’d never find the way back to that orphanage, and they never wanted to.


	16. The Promised Lands

Gahthla and the mare trot even after Jes has fallen asleep, and he wakes to water seeping through his socks and pants, and Elspeth’s laughter ringing in his ears.

It takes him a moment to process it all. They’re in a dam, or a lake. A body of water anyway, and the horses happily drink. Elspeth splashes too, even if she has no idea how to swim.

He doesn’t either, but that doesn’t matters. The horses are strong swimmers and they cling to their backs and enjoy the cool.

Maruman is not with them. Jes spots him, lying under a tree full of blooming fruit. And there are more cats too. And more horses: some in the pool and others not. And eagles in the trees. Not one of them seem concerned about the two humans that have been dropped into their midst.

Or maybe they’ve left their human selves behind, crossing the plains no humans dare to cross and entering a place where only animals came. It doesn’t matter, anyway, if their past doesn’t chase them here. It is peaceful, at first glance. Elspeth is smiling. Maruman is sleeping under the shade of the tree and the two horses, once so skittish, are making themselves acquainted with the herd.

Maybe it’s too peaceful, too idyllic. Or maybe it’s too easy now that they’ve reached the end. But Jes finds himself relaxing anyway. If this is just the calm before the storm, then let them enjoy this and be banished quickly, in that storm. If he’s asleep, let him keep this dream until he’s passed on.

He can be happy here, he knows. And Elspeth and the animals are right at home.

The mare cranes her neck and ninnies at him: the mare that had taken so easily to him, because he’d taken her terrified form so far from the past.

That’s what they’d all done: left the past.

He should stop thinking about it now, in the paradise he’ll take as his future.

That thing he’s been looking for: he’s found it. Elspeth’s eyes are doe and green like always, but they’re sparkling. And that’s all he needs. ‘Elf.’

                ‘Can we stay?’ she asks.

                ‘Of course,’ he’s quick to reply. ‘As long as they’ll have us.’


End file.
